Alnico Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2015 to 2021

Alnico belongs to the group of permanent(hard) magnets primarily composed of aluminum, nickel and cobalt. They are hardferromagnetic substances which are widely used in temperature sensitiveapplications such as hall-effect and MR-based electronic and automotive sensors.They are also known as composite magnets which are usually manufactured fromsintering or casting offering superior mechanical characteristics. Alnicomagnets are made from the combination of aluminum, nickel and cobalt with smallamounts of iron and other small elements that improve the property of themagnet. After rare earth magnets, Alnico is considered as the strongestpermanent magnet. It is also used in various household appliances as well asfor the production of horse shoe magnets. 

The global market for alnico has been witnessing significant growth owing torapid expansion of the automotive industry. Alnico magnets are majorly used inseveral components of an automobile including exhaust systems and sensors amongothers. Asia Pacific accounted as the largest market for alnico magnets, whichwas majorly supported by China, followed by several regions in Rest of theWorld (RoW) such as Latin America and Middle East. After the global economicslowdown in 2008-09, the manufacturing industry in North America has beenslowly gaining pace. Alnico magnets are being increasingly implemented inelectric motors and various sound reproductive systems such as microphones andloudspeakers. However, over the years, the industry for alnico magnets in thisregion has been noticeably saturated due to increasing consumption of NdFeBmagnets. These magnets have been increasingly superseded by rare earth magnetssuch as NdFeB as well as ferrite in different automotive and electronic equipment,resulting in low demand from retail and manufacturing companies. However,alnico magnets cannot be replaced completely by rare earth elements due totheir wide temperature range and stability. Thus, besides the automotiveindustry, growing demand for electric motors and sound systems has beenstrongly contributing towards the growth of the alnico market. Moreover, rapidgrowth of industrial activities in emerging regions such as Asia Pacific hasresulted in growth of various application sectors such as healthcare,electronics and power generation among others, which in turn is expected tocontribute towards the demand for alnico magnets in Asia Pacific over theforecast period.

Increasing demand for alnico magnets on account of growth of the automotiveindustry is expected to be one of the vital factors driving the demand foralnico magnets over the forecast period. Rise in disposable income, improvedinfrastructure and increasing population are some of the factors driving thedemand for automobiles. Moreover, increasing use of alnico magnets intemperature sensitive applications owing to growing industrialization andelectronics industry is also expected to contribute towards the growth of themarket. However, increasing substitution of alnico magnets by rare earthmagnets such as NdFeB on account of larger energy products and strongermagnetic fields, allowing smaller size magnets to be used for a givenapplication is expected to hamper the growth of the market. Increasingapplication scope of alnico magnets in HEVs coupled with growing demand forthese vehicles is expected to open opportunities for the growth of the marketover the next few years.